Incidence and mortality from malignant mesothelioma 1982-2020 and relationship with asbestos exposure: the Australian Mesothelioma Registry
Incidence and mortality from malignant mesothelioma 1982-2020 and relationship with asbestos exposure: the Australian Mesothelioma Registry
Objectives: malignant mesothelioma is an uncommon cancer associated with asbestos exposure, predominantly occupational. Asbestos has been banned in Australia since 2003 but mesothelioma has a long latency and incident cases continue to present. The Australian Mesothelioma Registry was incepted to collect systematic data about incidence and mortality alongside asbestos exposure.
Methods: benefiting from the Australian national system of cancer notification, all incident cases of mesothelioma in all states and territories are fast-tracked and notified regularly. Notified patients are contacted asking for consent to collect exposure information, initially by postal questionnaire and subsequently by telephone interview. Age-standardised annual incidence rates and mortality rates were calculated. Asbestos exposure was categorised as occupational, non-occupational, neither or, both; and as low, or high, probability of exposure.
Results: mesothelioma incidence appears to have peaked. The age-standardised incidence rates have declined steadily since the early 2000s (peaking in males at 5.9/100 000 and in all-persons at 3.2/100 000), driven by rates in males, who comprise the majority of diagnosed cases. Rates in women have remained fairly stable since that time. Age-standardised mortality rates have followed similar trends. Mesothelioma remains the most common in those aged over 80 years. Nearly all (94%) cases were linked with asbestos exposure (78% occupational in men; 6.8% in women).
Conclusions: with effective control of occupational asbestos use, the decline in age-standardised incidence and death rates has occurred. Incidence rates among women, in whom occupational asbestos exposure is rarely detectable, remain unchanged, pointing to the role of household and /or environmental asbestos exposure.
186-191
Walker-Bone, Karen
ad7d1336-ed2c-4f39-ade5-da84eb412109
Benke, Geza
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MacFarlane, Ewan
4c6a0996-3bfe-4e0e-a181-8c0e6eed421b
Klebe, S.
94434cf6-1941-419a-b9b4-40881285470f
Takahashi, Ken
a832cceb-9378-4120-9062-305b5f0872d8
Brims, Fraser
2e8a75a2-e9ec-4b72-9eb8-f9a42f56ef96
Sim, Malcolm Ross
a1465bce-9ed6-4cfc-b6b2-0317bf5bc198
Driscoll, Tim R.
99df6061-e092-49d1-8b6c-d150873211fa
14 March 2023
Walker-Bone, Karen
ad7d1336-ed2c-4f39-ade5-da84eb412109
Benke, Geza
d55219f8-4f83-439c-93f0-7e6ad43d852b
MacFarlane, Ewan
4c6a0996-3bfe-4e0e-a181-8c0e6eed421b
Klebe, S.
94434cf6-1941-419a-b9b4-40881285470f
Takahashi, Ken
a832cceb-9378-4120-9062-305b5f0872d8
Brims, Fraser
2e8a75a2-e9ec-4b72-9eb8-f9a42f56ef96
Sim, Malcolm Ross
a1465bce-9ed6-4cfc-b6b2-0317bf5bc198
Driscoll, Tim R.
99df6061-e092-49d1-8b6c-d150873211fa
Walker-Bone, Karen, Benke, Geza, MacFarlane, Ewan, Klebe, S., Takahashi, Ken, Brims, Fraser, Sim, Malcolm Ross and Driscoll, Tim R.
(2023)
Incidence and mortality from malignant mesothelioma 1982-2020 and relationship with asbestos exposure: the Australian Mesothelioma Registry.
Occupational & Environmental Medicine, 80, .
(doi:10.1136/oemed-2022-108669).
Abstract
Objectives: malignant mesothelioma is an uncommon cancer associated with asbestos exposure, predominantly occupational. Asbestos has been banned in Australia since 2003 but mesothelioma has a long latency and incident cases continue to present. The Australian Mesothelioma Registry was incepted to collect systematic data about incidence and mortality alongside asbestos exposure.
Methods: benefiting from the Australian national system of cancer notification, all incident cases of mesothelioma in all states and territories are fast-tracked and notified regularly. Notified patients are contacted asking for consent to collect exposure information, initially by postal questionnaire and subsequently by telephone interview. Age-standardised annual incidence rates and mortality rates were calculated. Asbestos exposure was categorised as occupational, non-occupational, neither or, both; and as low, or high, probability of exposure.
Results: mesothelioma incidence appears to have peaked. The age-standardised incidence rates have declined steadily since the early 2000s (peaking in males at 5.9/100 000 and in all-persons at 3.2/100 000), driven by rates in males, who comprise the majority of diagnosed cases. Rates in women have remained fairly stable since that time. Age-standardised mortality rates have followed similar trends. Mesothelioma remains the most common in those aged over 80 years. Nearly all (94%) cases were linked with asbestos exposure (78% occupational in men; 6.8% in women).
Conclusions: with effective control of occupational asbestos use, the decline in age-standardised incidence and death rates has occurred. Incidence rates among women, in whom occupational asbestos exposure is rarely detectable, remain unchanged, pointing to the role of household and /or environmental asbestos exposure.
Text
CLEAN revised AMR paper 14.12.22
- Accepted Manuscript
More information
Accepted/In Press date: 16 January 2023
e-pub ahead of print date: 8 February 2023
Published date: 14 March 2023
Additional Information:
Funding Information:
The AMR is funded by Safe Work Australia. (Award/grant number not applicable).
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 477146
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/477146
ISSN: 1351-0711
PURE UUID: f200e722-a31d-48a4-8c6d-aec1029496a8
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Date deposited: 30 May 2023 16:38
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 02:50
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Contributors
Author:
Geza Benke
Author:
Ewan MacFarlane
Author:
S. Klebe
Author:
Ken Takahashi
Author:
Fraser Brims
Author:
Malcolm Ross Sim
Author:
Tim R. Driscoll
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